an opinionated list of essential VS Code extensions

an opinionated list of essential VS Code extensions

VS Code is one of the most popular editors/IDEs out there (see, for instance, WakaTime 2020 Programming Stats, Stack Overflow 2021 Developer Survey & Python Developers Survey 2020 Results). It is currently my favourite code editor – I use it for almost everything!

In this post, I present a list of VS Code extensions that I generally depend on, and always ensure that they are installed in my favourite text editor! So, without further ado, here we go ...

General Purpose ⚙️

Spell Checking ✍🏽

Comments 💬

  • aaron-bond.better-commentsBetter Comments › Improve your code commenting by annotating with alert, informational, TODOs, and more!

Changelogs 📜

Add a splash of colour 🎨

Lorem ipsum ❇️

  • deerawan.vscode-fakervscode-faker › Generate fake data for name, address, lorem ipsum, commerce and much more

Coding style 📄

Code execution 🚀

  • formulahendry.code-runnerCode Runner › Run C, C++, Java, JS, PHP, Python, Perl, Ruby, Go, Lua, Groovy, PowerShell, CMD, BASH, F#, C#, VBScript, TypeScript, CoffeeScript, Scala, Swift, Julia, Crystal, OCaml, R, AppleScript, Elixir, VB.NET, Clojure, Haxe, Obj-C, Rust, Racket, Scheme, AutoHotkey, AutoIt, Kotlin, Dart, Pascal, Haskell, Nim, ...

Metrics 📈

  • WakaTime.vscode-wakatimeWakaTime › Metrics, insights, and time tracking automatically generated from your programming activity.

Git 🗃️

Screen capture 📸

Miscellaneous Tools 🛠️

Themes 💄

  • akamud.vscode-theme-onedarkAtom One Dark Theme › One Dark Theme based on Atom
  • PKief.material-icon-themeMaterial Icon Theme › Material Design Icons for Visual Studio Code
  • sdras.night-owlNight Owl › A VS Code theme for the night owls out there. Now introducing Light Owl theme for daytime usage. Decisions were based on meaningful contrast for reading comprehension and for optimal razzle dazzle. ✨
  • vscode-icons-team.vscode-iconsvscode-icons › Icons for Visual Studio Code

Language Support ✨

Snippets 🎉

Containers 🚢

Python 🐍

  • ms-python.pythonPython › IntelliSense (Pylance), Linting, Debugging (multi-threaded, remote), Jupyter Notebooks, code formatting, refactoring, unit tests, and more.
  • ms-python.vscode-pylancePylance › A performant, feature-rich language server for Python in VS Code
  • ms-toolsai.jupyterJupyter › Jupyter notebook support, interactive programming and computing that supports Intellisense, debugging and more.

TeX ✒️

Web development 🌐

Markdown 📝

  • DavidAnson.vscode-markdownlintmarkdownlint › Markdown linting and style checking for Visual Studio Code
  • ms-vscode.Theme-MarkdownKitMarkdown Theme Kit › Theme Kit for VS Code optimized for Markdown. Based on the TextMate themes.
  • ms-vscode.wordcountWord Count › Markdown Word Count Example - a status bar contribution that reports out the number of works in a Markdown document as you interact with it.
  • yzhang.markdown-all-in-oneMarkdown All in One › All you need to write Markdown (keyboard shortcuts, table of contents, auto preview and more)

Vue.js 💚

Android 📱

Well, there you have it! What VS Code extensions do you depend on that aren't on this list? Do you have alternatives to some of the extensions I've listed? Well, let me know in the comments below 🙂.

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